Want to Burn Fat? Don't Do These 3 Things

Want to Burn Fat? Don't Do These 3 Things

Published by Marge Hynes on

You’ve probably seen “secret” after “secret” to burning body fat—how to burn fat the fastest, the trick to losing weight, how to gain muscle quickly and easily, etcetera. With so many “tips and tricks” floating around, it’s easy to get swept up in the sea of weight loss myths.

Wondering how to burn fat the right way and unsure where to begin? We’ve got you covered. There are three main things you shouldn’t do when it comes to burning fat. Keep reading to find out what they are. 

Various breakfast ingredients.

Don’t Do This: Skip Breakfast

Breakfast is the best way to jumpstart your metabolism in the wee hours of the morning. Not only this but skipping your first meal of the day can lead to: [1,2,3]

- Low blood sugar can cause you to feel irritable, confused, and fatigued. 
- Aggravated energy crashes or the dreaded afternoon energy dip. 
- Overindulging at lunchtime meals because your body is signaling to you it’s hungry.
- Cortisol production increases, which can lead to the inevitable “hangry” feeling.
- Difficulty losing weight, as your metabolism is slowed down from skipping meals. 

Do This: Eat Breakfast Like a King 

Breakfast sets the tone for the rest of your day, especially when it comes to trying to lose weight. Experts recommend eating breakfasts that are rich in protein and have a wealth of essential vitamins and minerals. To curb cravings and keep you feeling full until lunchtime, you can try: [4]

- Eggs: High in protein and contain nutrients like selenium and riboflavin.
- Wheat Germ: High in fiber and contains vitamins and minerals like manganese, thiamine, and selenium. 
- Bananas: High in fiber and low in calories. 
- Greek Yogurt: High in protein. 
- Fruit Smoothies: Fill them up with veggies and low-calorie fruits to boost fiber and protein intake. 
- Berries: Super nutrient-dense and low in calories. 
- Grapefruits: High in fiber and water content, and low in calories. 
- Oatmeal: High in fiber and protein, and low in calories. 
- Green Tea: Studies show this beverage has metabolic and fat-burning benefits. 
Person stepping on a scale.

Don’t Do This: Cut Back On Calories

The standard approach to weight control—eat less and move more—is one of those weight loss myths we warned you about.

Just like skipping the most important meal of the day, drastically reducing your calorie intake can not only be dangerous for weight loss beginners but can slow down your metabolism, in turn doing the exact opposite of your main goal - burning fat. [5]

Do This: Prioritize Healthy Meal Options

According to research, cutting down on carbohydrates, not calories, can play a helpful role in long-term weight loss. Processed carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, potato products, and sugar can drive up your insulin levels which can cause weight gain over time. [5]

If you’re seeking long-term results, start focusing on food quality rather than calorie counts. 

How do you know if the food you’re eating is of high quality, though? [5,6]

- High-quality foods: unrefined, minimally processed foods like yummy veggies and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, and proteins—check out the Healthy Eating Plate created by The Harvard School of Public Health for reference. 


- Lower-quality foods: highly processed snack foods, sugar-sweetened drinks, refined (white) grains, refined sugar, fried foods, foods with lots of “bad” saturated and trans fats, and high-glycemic foods like potatoes (skip out on those fries!). 

Moral of the story: Replace heavy-duty carbs with whole fruits and minimally processed grains. Healthy fats are okay—you don’t have to fear fats in your weight loss plan! Some studies have shown that foods high in “good” unsaturated fats, like vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and fish, can help curb those big cravings for unhealthy carbohydrates. [5,6]

Woman exercising.

Don’t Do This: Jump Into Training Every Single Day

The more muscle there is on your frame, the easier it is to burn calories while at rest. To build that muscle and burn fat, however, resistance training and regular exercise are a must. The mistake most people make at the beginning of their weight loss journey is diving head first into high-intensity exercising every single day. 

If you’re hitting the weight room four or five times a week, but not giving yourself any time to rest in between, you inevitably won’t get the results you want because your muscles will have no time to heal. Putting so much pressure on a body that isn’t used to so much intensity yet is a recipe for burnout and disaster. [7,8]

Do This: Be Gentle With Yourself

Take it easy! When you start exercising more, your body needs more time to recuperate, rest, and heal. If you allow yourself adequate time to rest between workout sessions, you can come back bigger and stronger than before. Don’t jump straight into a high-intensity workout routine if you’re a newbie. Ease your way in. Slow and steady wins the race. [7,8]

When it comes to things like exercising to burn fat long-term, you can try: 

- Start small. Begin with the lowest set of reps and weights. Work your way up to more rigorous workouts over time. Be patient with yourself. 

- Rest at least two days a week. It’s imperative that you split your workouts wisely. Schedule your workout days and your recovery days for the week in advance. For example, you can try training a muscle group only twice a week and then resting those same muscles for at least two days before training them again. 

- Consult with a trainer. Set realistic, attainable fitness goals for yourself, and check in with a personal trainer to avoid putting unnecessary strain on your body. 

- Switch up your fitness routine. From time to time, switch up your workouts so your fitness journey is balanced, stimulating, and fun! Try new things to spice it up - yoga, barre, pilates, spin, boxing, running, long walks, swimming, and so much more. Find something you really enjoy doing.

- Reward yourself. Your weight loss journey is as psychological as it is physical. To stay motivated, treat yourself to occasional relaxing activities after a workout such as a long bath or a soothing massage. 

A Quick Recap (& A Few Extras)

Exercise equipment

It’s the age-old question—“What’s the most effective way to burn body fat?” There are a lot of perspectives when it comes to this topic, and it can get confusing. 

To clear it up for you, we’ve broken down the basics you should be prioritizing: 

  1. Understand how much you are eating, and whether what you are consuming is of high or low quality according to your dietary needs and goals. Talk with your healthcare provider if you have any questions or concerns. 
  2. Make sure your sleep isn’t suffering. Adults need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Sleep deprivation can release excessive amounts of the stress hormone, cortisol, in your body, keeping you alert and awake at night (that means even more sleep loss). Research tells us that chronically high cortisol levels hinder your body’s ability to burn fat and lose weight. [9,12] Our Sleep & Restore supplement is an excellent natural solution to getting some extra zzz's!
  3. Focus on building muscle mass slowly but surely. Building more muscle is a helpful element in burning fat. Building muscle raises your resting metabolic rate (RMR). A higher RMR will result in more calories burned at rest. [10,11]
  4. Supplementation is a helpful (and easy) way to give your body an extra boost. For example, if you’re starting to exercise more, turmeric curcumin is a great option for joint and body support. Collagen peptides are another option for athletic recovery, as they have an impressive amino acid profile. For simple and natural all-one-health, daily multivitamins are a popular choice. [13, 14, 15, 16, 17]

Searching for more ways to easily manage your health journey? Click here to discover our line of natural, premium supplements carefully crafted with you and your health needs in mind. 

Resources:

  1. Ofori-Asenso, R., Owen, A. J., & Liew, D. (2019). Skipping Breakfast and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Death: A Systematic Review of Prospective Cohort Studies in Primary Prevention Settings. Journal of cardiovascular development and disease, 6(3), 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd6030030 
  2. Wicherski, J., Schlesinger, S., & Fischer, F. (2021). Association between Breakfast Skipping and Body Weight-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Longitudinal Studies. Nutrients, 13(1), 272. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13010272 
  3. Kylie J Smith, Seana L Gall, Sarah A McNaughton, Leigh Blizzard, Terence Dwyer, Alison J Venn, Skipping breakfast: longitudinal associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 92, Issue 6, December 2010, Pages 1316–1325, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2010.30101 
  4. Link, R. (2018, September 3). 14 healthy breakfast foods that help you lose weight. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/weight-loss-breakfast-foods#TOC_TITLE_HDR_11 
  5. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (2019). Cutting carbs, not calories, may be key to long-term weight loss. Hsph.harvard.edu. Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/carbs-calories-weight-loss/ 
  6. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (2022). The Best Diet: Quality Counts. Hsph.harvard.edu. Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/best-diet-quality-counts/ 
  7. Stirbys P. (2013). How Much Exercise Is Too Much? Journal of atrial fibrillation, 5(5), 819. https://doi.org/10.4022/jafib.819 
  8. Haskins, J. (2014, September 2). Don't overdo it: Why too much exercise may be a bad thing. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-too-much-exercise-can-be-bad-042514 
  9. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research; Colten HR, Altevogt BM, editors. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2006. 3, Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19961/ 
  10. McMurray, R. G., Soares, J., Caspersen, C. J., & McCurdy, T. (2014). Examining variations of resting metabolic rate of adults: a public health perspective. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 46(7), 1352–1358. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000232 
  11. Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition). (2003). Basal metabolic rate. Basal Metabolic Rate - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/basal-metabolic-rate 
  12. Preiato, D. (2020, September 29). Does Cortisol Affect Weight Gain? Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cortisol-and-weight-gain#tips 
  13. Gupta, Subash C, et al. “Therapeutic Roles of Curcumin: Lessons Learned from Clinical Trials.” The AAPS Journal, Springer US, 15 Jan. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/. 
  14. S;, Daily JW;Yang M;Park. “Efficacy of Turmeric Extracts and Curcumin for Alleviating the Symptoms of Joint Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.” Journal of Medicinal Food, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Aug. 2016, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27533649/. 
  15. de Paz-Lugo, P., Lupiáñez, J. A., & Meléndez-Hevia, E. (2018). High glycine concentration increases collagen synthesis by articular chondrocytes in vitro: acute glycine deficiency could be an important cause of osteoarthritis. Amino acids, 50(10), 1357–1365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-018-2611-x 
  16. Sies, H. E. L. M. U. T. "Relationship between free radicals and vitamins: an overview." International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Supplement= Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin-und Ernahrungsforschung. Supplement 30 (1989): 215-223. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2507700/ 
  17. Depeint, Flore, et al. "Mitochondrial function and toxicity: role of the B vitamin family on mitochondrial energy metabolism." Chemico-biological interactions 163.1-2 (2006): 94-112. https://reven.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/depeint2006.-Mitochondrial-function-and-toxicity.-role-of-B-vitamin-family.pdf

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